I Know You, Met You In A Dream, Read Your Tracks
by Thousandsmiles
Summary: Rick Grimes meets Daryl Dixon when his brother gets thrown in the drunk tank. In an alternate universe where the zombie apocalypse never happens Rick and Daryl still meet each other. And life still somehow conspires to be exciting. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first Walking Dead fanfic so I hope it's okay!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.**

* * *

Rick Grimes meets Daryl Dixon when his brother gets thrown in the drunk tank. Dixon comes down to the station to pick up his brother in an old beat up truck, toting his brothers bike in the back. He is cool, calm, strangely aloof, distrustful of the people in the station, a coarse-mouthed red neck but he is smarter than his brother and keeps his tone respectful while still managing to sound slightly insulting.

He doesn't say much to Dixon except to introduce himself and lead him over to where his brother is. He gets Merle Dixon out of the cell, processed and sent out in the not so tender care of his younger brother. He and Daryl never so much as says another word to each other besides introducing themselves. Most of Daryl's speech in occupied with answering his brother.

But before they leave, Daryl looks at Rick and Rick looks back at Daryl and then Daryl is gone. But Rick can't shake the feeling. It feels like he's met Daryl in a dream. He's never seen the man before but for some strange reason Daryl Dixon has fingers around Rick's heart and Rick can feel Daryl's back lining up against his, feel his tears soaking into his shirt, hear his dry, always unexpected humor, see the dark part of him and cradle it gently in his arms, can bury himself in that blackness and feel at home.

Shane hand lands on his shoulder snapping him out of it and for a moment Rick thinks that that strange moment is it, that maybe he hasn't had his coffee yet but when he turns and grins at Shane, follows him back in the station, Daryl Dixons fingers don't let go of his heart.

* * *

Daryl Dixion has never met Rick Grimes before the morning before he had to go fish Merle out the drunk tank but when he sees him, he pegs him as one of those people that he can respect but that he's not going to spend a lot of time around. He introduces himself and after saying gruffly to one of the other officers that he's here to pick up his brother. The officer hands him over to Deputy Grimes who just nods and leads the way to the cell where Merle is being kept.

Merle is hung over and clearly not in a good mood. Daryl is not looking forward to spending the day with him while he gets over his hangover. Merle is apparently not looking forward to moving, at all. Daryl gives a mental shrug and has Merle moving, and being processed out. All the time, Deputy Grimes works with a calm, efficient air. Even Merle's attempts to aggravate him don't work and Merle eventually gives up because even his own voice is giving him a headache. What did he drink anyway?

Pretty soon they're heading out the station and then they're in the parking lot and Daryl is all set to get into the truck but before he does, he stops and looks back at Rick. He can't explain why but something about Rick makes him feel like he's tracked Rick before, like he's stumbles across his path before, learned the way he thought by following him over miles and miles of territory, like Daryl knew his shoes size and the length of his stride, like if he'll slow down and be cautious when staking prey or the way his body would coil into motion when he's ready to attack, he feels like he's read his cunning in the paths he's taken, his kindness when he choose to leave a mother deer alone, his rage in the way he rips apart the predator that would attempt to take what's his, his tenacity in survival, his hunger and his desperation by the way he doesn't take breaks, the frightening, animal part of him and the cool calculating human by the sheer volume of what he's capable of doing and how far his trail goes. And Daryl is at home, following this trail.

Deputy Grimes looks back at him and then Daryl turns and climbs into his truck. Merle's presence instantly fills the space he's in and Daryl thinks that maybe he's drunk too much the night before as well because the tracks of Rick Grimes still flicker on the edges of his sight.

* * *

It's years before they see each other again, before Daryl rolls back up in Ricks precinct again, this time on a motorcycle of his own. He doesn't go looking for Rick, doesn't even step in the direction of the station instead he goes to one of the bars in town, settles in for a nice drink.

It takes him a minute to recognize that Shane and Rick are in the bar, apparently having an after-work drink. The two laugh and chat like the old friends they are and Daryl says nothing, doesn't look in their direction after that first glance and continues to nurse his drink. Half an hour later Shane leaves to hit the head and after a minute, Daryl feels eyes on him. He looks up and finds Rick Grimes staring at him.

"Daryl Dixon," he says and Daryl is startled because there's no reason why Rick should remember his name after all this time, but he does.

"Rick Grimes," Daryl says in reply and he sees in Ricks eyes light up with what must be the replica of the light in his. They don't say anything else and Shane comes back anyway. Daryl finishes his drink and leaves. The next day he is gone, roaring out of town heading wherever the wind blew and the hunting was good.

* * *

He is back in a year, following the trail of Rick Grimes that has never left him and sometimes marches right beside him. Rick is in their patrol car, chatting to his partner while they discourage speeders and other potential lawbreakers by their presence, when Daryl drives by.

Their eyes catch for a brief moment and then Daryl is flying past. He ends back up in the same bar in the evening and an hour after he's been there, Rick comes through the door, orders a club soda and sits in the stool next to him.

"Dixon."

"Grimes."

Rick finishes his club soda in under ten minutes and Daryl is now down to one finger in his glass. Rick gives him a small nod and then he's gone, breezing out the door almost as fast as Daryl has flew past him that evening.

* * *

The next time Daryl sees Rick it's six months later, when Daryl is back in town. Daryl is just picking up supplies for his trip back out on the road. They just happen to espy each other when Daryl is coming out of the gas station store and Rick and his partner have pulled into the station for gas.

Daryl stows the food in the pack on his bike, glances at Rick once before he revs his bike and takes off. He feels Ricks eyes on his back for a long time afterward.

* * *

Two months after the last time Rick saw him in the gas station, Daryl Dixon breezes past his front yard on his motorbike. He doesn't see Rick, not at first, but he catches sight of him in the side mirrors after he's passed him. He slows but doesn't' stop and soon disappears from sight.

Rick keeps expecting it to go away but Daryl Dixon's calloused fingers just grip tightly onto his heart like they've never let go and never will. For the briefest of moments he feels a ghost of his hand resting on his shoulder and the weight of Daryl's eyes on him that somehow hold him up.

* * *

He doesn't see Daryl for eight months after that but his shoulder blades tingle like a second pair are pressing into his. On the ninth month Daryl breezes in again and he offers Rick a weary quirk of the mouth. Rick offers him a life-is-hard-what-can-we-do one in return because he's pretty sure Daryl won't take well to sympathy.

Rick finds him in the bar nursing what he apparently means to be his last drink for the night. Rick orders a beer and hopes Lori doesn't get annoyed at him for being out a little later than he is, what with her being pregnant and all. Daryl finishes his drink before Rick finishes his and walks out the bar but he pauses just before he exits. Rick finishes his drink and drives back home, eager to see Carl and Lori again.

* * *

The next time Daryl sees Rick, it's at Rick's house, seven months later. The place is shrouded with grief and part of Daryl wants to leave but Rick is in there, suffering from the loss of his wife. Died in childbirth he had heard. Rick's partner, Shane is on the porch, head in his hands and his shoulders shake while he sits with his grief.

It seems that Daryl has just missed the funeral and happily, all the other well-wishers. He walks up to the house but before he can enter Shane is on his feet, face streaked with tears but he has a hand on Daryl's chest and is demanding what he is doing here.

"I came to see Rick," is all he says.

"Rick isn't seeing anyone," Shane says.

"I'm a friend." Daryl says.

"Really?" Shane's disbelief is palpable. "Well I don't know you."

"Just let me in," Daryl said, already thoroughly fed up with the proceedings. "If he wants me to leave, I'll leave."

Shane looks him in the eyes and then lowers his hand and lets him in. "See that you do that," he adds.

Daryl doesn't bother to reply. He just walks in and makes his way through the house. He finds Rick in the living room, sitting on the couch. There's a baby carrier next to him with a cute sleeping child in it. Ricks head is in his hands and he is sobbing uncontrollably, shoulders shaking, breath stuttering, wild, heart tearing sounds coming out from him.

"Rick," Daryl says and Rick looks up. For a moment, he is frozen, then he is pushing himself up to stand but he doesn't quite make it before his legs gives way under him. Daryl catches him before he falls back onto the couch and lowers him gently onto it instead.

Rick clings to him and sobs. He feels his tears leak onto his neck and the sheer force of grief shaking through his body. Daryl holds onto him like he's never held onto to anyone before in his entire life and lets him cry.

"I don't know what to do," Rick says after a long time, still sobbing, "I don't what to do. I don't know how to do this. I can't do this without her. I can't do this without her! I don't know what to do!" his words are increasingly desperate and heartbroken.

Daryl leans back a little to get some leverage and then shakes Rick slightly. "Hey," he says and Rick looks up at him, eyes wide and wet with tears. "We'll figure this out okay?" he expects it to take a few seconds for what he's said to penetrate Ricks brain but he understands it right away.

"Okay," he says, shakily, "Okay."

Then he rests back his head on Daryl's shoulder and keens. Daryl holds him for a moment while he shuffles the broken pieces of himself into a pile and then Rick lets go, swipes at his eyes and stumbles brokenly towards the bathroom.

It is at this point that the overly cute child decides to wake up.

* * *

When Rick sees Daryl next, after having a long talk with Carl, he is sitting in a chair in the living room holding a sleeping Judith. An empty bottle is resting on the coffee table.

"Didn't know you knew how to feed a child," Rick says in lieu of anything else. "It's not so hard, besides Carl googled it before he went up to talk to you," Daryl drawls. Rick takes a moment to reflect on the picture in front of him, of a hardened man in biker jacket, holding a tiny child dressed in white. It feels good to have a brief moment where he is not actively concentrating on the hole inside him.

"Why don't you get some rest?" Daryl says, "I'll hold the fort here. It's not like she's heavy."

"You sure?" Rick asks because he is tired, even though he feels like he'll never sleep again. He doesn't think it's a good state to be in while taking care of the baby though, not Lori's baby, not the last piece of her. He feels the tears and the crushing despair crash back onto him and he barely hears Daryl reassure him in quick, careless sentences before he's turning around and heading back upstairs, back to their bedroom.

* * *

When he wakes up in the morning from a sleep he never expected to have he goes in search of Judy. He finds her and Daryl in the spare room. Judith in lying on her stomach, resting on her blanket whilst Daryl is curled up along the edge on the bed, preventing her from rolling off the edge in her sleep. A pillow is on the floor and Daryl's boots are still on his feet. Clearly, he'd only meant to stay on the bed while patting Judith to sleep but had fallen asleep himself.

"I didn't want to wake him up," Carl says from behind him. Rick jumps a little but turns to look at his son. Carl's eyes are red and he is looking like he might break apart at any second. Still he looks at Rick steadily and says, "I figured he'd need the sleep."

"That's okay," Rick says. He pulls Carl towards him, deposits a kiss on the boy's head and then says, "How about we make some scrambled eggs huh?"

"Okay," says Carl. As they're heading down the stairs he asks, "How much do you think Daryl eats?"

"More than both of us, that's for sure," Rick replies.

"More than Shane?" Carl asks.

"Sure," Rick says.

They've just finished with the eggs when Judith's cry pierces the house. Rick charges up the stairs while Carl heads over to make a bottle of formula. The wailing baby cry is somewhat soothed but Judith is hungry and wants everyone to know. Rick runs into the room to find Daryl sitting on the bed shushing Judith runs back down to help Carl finish make the bottle and then he back up the stairs with Carl in tow. Daryl hold out his hand for the bottle and Rick hands it to him, watches as Judith hungrily takes the rubber nipple and begin sucking down breakfast.

Its only a short step to realize that they'll never see Lori do this. A few minutes later he realizes that he is standing there with tears running down his face. Carl is sobbing softly next to him and he pulls his son into a hug as they grieve for the wife and mother they'd lost and that Judy had never known.

They are broken out of their grief fugue when Judith gives a small burp. Daryl looks in disgust at the tiny patch of frothy milk she had brought back up on his shoulder and hands her over to Rick.

"Diaper duty is yours," he says. And Carl has recovered enough to screw up his face at the thought.

"There's eggs downstairs," Rick tells him and Daryl nods and brushes past him. Carl thunders down after him into the kitchen and Rick is left with Judith yawning in his arms.

"Come on darling," he says to her, "Let's change that pamper."

* * *

A few minutes later Rick joins them with a freshly changed Judith. Carl and Daryl are both eating, Daryl heartily, Carl nibbling on the eggs. Daryl looks up as Rick enters the kitchen and their eyes catch and hold.

Rick can feel Daryl Dixon's fingers around his heart, feel his back resting against his, even when there a hole inside him and his world is consumed with grief.

They'll figure things out just like Daryl said.

And Daryl nods in affirmation of the truth in Rick's eyes.

* * *

 _ **Review please!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer:I do not own The Walking Dead.**

* * *

Two weeks after Lori's funeral, Daryl walks into the kitchen holding Judith and says, "You need some help with her."

Rick looks up at him and tilts his head for a moment in confusion before he remembers that Daryl couldn't actually stay here for, well, pretty much for the rest of his life. He'd come to regard him as a permanent fixture in his life the way Shane was, not just someone he knew inside out, but someone who was always there. But of course, it wasn't Daryl to stay in one place for terribly long. He knew this, had always known it since he's met Daryl Dixon.

"You're right," he says after an awkward moment, he gestures, an empty wave in the air, "I can't take care of her and Carl and go back to work."

"You could put her in one of those day cares things…" Daryl suggests even while managing to sound like he would personally not approve.

"No," says Rick, because while he doesn't have anything against daycares, he just doesn't like his kids growing up in so impersonal an environment.

Judith fusses and Daryl hushes her. She instantly soothes, and snuggles back down. Rick thinks this is unfair because she always puts up more fuss before she quiets for him. She even quiets faster with Carl and even Shane.

Daryl shifts uncomfortably, the way he does when he doesn't want to be intrusive but has something to ask or offer.

"What is it?" Rick asks. Daryl looks at him for a moment too long, like he's always startled when Rick seems to read his mind, and then said:

"I know someone," he says, "Good woman, daughter around Carl's age so he can have some company. Needs somewhere to go, somewhere where her husband will hesitate to make a fuss. Thought you being a deputy and all, might discourage him. And she could take care of Judith."

Rick's eyebrows shoot up but then lowers as he thinks. "Shouldn't she report him?" he asks, "Not that I mind her here, I do need the help…but…"

"You know how those women are," Daryl said, "How those men have 'em brainwashed. She won't report him, but if she gets the chance she'll leave. Best outcome, end of the day."

Rick sighed. "You're right." He's seen too many of these domestic cases and seen too many that ended badly. If could help one get out he would and he trusted that Daryl would choose someone well.

"Alright," he says, "Give her a call."

Daryl shakes his head. "No, going to get her."

"Okay," says Rick, "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow," says Daryl, "Be back in a couple of days."

"Okay," says Rick again. Daryl meets his eyes and nods slightly. Rick nods back and then Judith choose that moment to wake and coo adorably. Then her face screws up and she wails.

"My turn!" Carl yells from upstairs and then he is barreling his way down the stairs and into the kitchen where he prepares the bottle of formula with ease and makes grabby hands at Daryl to hand him Judith.

Rick spots the transfer and then Carl, still suffering from the loss of his mother, but reveling in his role as older brother settles into the nearest chair to feed his younger sister.

Ricks grins at Daryl over Carl's head and Daryl's mouth gives an amused twitch and then they're both sneaking out the kitchen leaving the besotted older brother to feed his sister.

Shane pulls up in their patrol car when Daryl is leaving for the evening. He nods at Daryl who nods back and then pulls off.

"Once more into the breach?" Shane jokes as he steps in the house. Rick gives an uneasy laugh and Shane grips his shoulder with understanding.

"Where is she?" he asks.

"Upstairs," says rick, "already sleeping.

"Oh no," murmurs Shane. "She'll wake up tonight."

Rick sighs. Daryl and Shane had been trading off shifts for the last two weeks to help him with Judith in the night. Carl, on occasion, gave them all a much-needed breather along with some of their neighbors. Lori's mother had apologized profusely but she already had to take care of her husband who had heart problems and who was not faring very well with the loss of his only daughter.

"Daryl won't be here tomorrow night," Rick said, voice still in the whisper everyone automatically adopted when Judith was asleep. "He's gone to get someone who could help me take care of the baby."

"Like a nanny?" said Shane.

"Yeah," Rick whispered back.

"You sure you trust anyone he brings?" Shane asked, "He's a drifter, no doubt he's broken some laws, he could be bringing in a partner in crime."

"It's someone who needs a place to go for her and her daughter," Rick said, "A place where her husband who won't come looking."

"Like the house of a deputy," said Shane. He fell quiet for a moment, and then said, "You believe that?"

"I do," said Rick, "And you can take a good look at her when you see her. See if she's acting or not."

"That I will," said Shane.

Carl creeps down the stairs and says hey to Shane. Shane ruffles his hair, "Hey little man," he says. Carl grins and goes back up the stairs.

"Still not talking much?" Shane asked Rick who shook his head.

"Not unless it about Judith,"

"Well there's at least that," said Shane. "Got any beer?"

"Yeah," says Rick.

* * *

Two days later Daryl drives past a modest house in the suburbs of Atlanta. He doesn't stop, doesn't pause, just drives past. When he passes the house a few hours later a child's teddy bear is visible, hanging in the window. Daryl continues driving past until he's clear of nosey neighbors, parks his bike behind some bushes and then makes his way through the backs streets and a couple of yards until he comes up to the backdoor of the little house and knocks.

Carol opens the door hurriedly and ushers him in.

"Pack," he says to her as soon as he's inside the house.

"He's only gone for an hour," she tells him.

"We'll be gone before then," he says.

Carol grabs his arm. "Where are we going? You know I can't just leave. What would I do for money? What if he finds us?"

"Got all that covered," said Daryl. "A friend of mine, good man, lost his wife. Needs help with his baby. He's a deputy, in Cynthiana. Got an older boy too. He'll pay you for the help. Maybe Sophia could help out the boy cause he's not taking his mom's death so well."

Carol lets go of his arm while she takes in the information and stares at him.

"One chance Carol," he says, "You get one chance to get out from this, you and Sophia." It's the right thing to say, he knows. Carol, deep inside, is no pushover, and she loves her daughter.

"Alright," she nods.

They're out the house fifteen minutes after that. Daryl rents her a car and then they pick up Sophia early from school. They're driving out of Atlanta before Ed truly realizes what has happened.

* * *

Rick is sitting on the couch staring at a picture of Lori when his phone vibrates. He jumps, wipes his eyes and answers.

"Hello?" he answers wondering who was calling him so late at night.

"It's me," Daryl said.

"Right,' said Rick. He rubs at his forehead, "Didn't watch the ID."

"We're on our way back. Just thought you should know. We're at a rest stop now. They're using the bathroom."

"No trouble?" asks Rick.

"No," says Daryl.

"How's things on your end?"

"Quiet, for now," Ricks says.

"You're tired," Daryl states bluntly.

"Yeah," said Rick. Grief is exhausting. He doesn't have to say it for Daryl to know it. Daryl's Dixon's fingers are around his heart, he knows every emotion that ripples there.

"Yeah, well I'm tired too," he says, "We're driving a little more though. Don't want that bastard to catch up."

"You take care on the road," Rick warns him. The calls ends a moment later. Shane comes in with Judith on his shoulder, patting her on the back.

"Daryl" Rick says by way of explanation. A flicker of something passes over Shane's face and then he nods.

* * *

Daryl pockets his phone and frowns into the night. Rick's tracks line the ground next to him, unsteady and heavy. Grief and exhaustion, are what weights them down so. He scuffs up more dirt than he usually does, breaks more branches, is far clumsier.

He no longer moves with the same vigor, the same life. His hear tis broken, but not, Daryl notes, his sprit.

"Who was that?" asks Carol.

"Rick," he says.

"Your friend?" Carol asks.

He nods. She studies him for a moment and then goes into the car with Sophia.

* * *

Carol Peletier bursts into tears the first time she sees him. Rick stands in his front yard while she comes up to him tears running down her face. She puts a hand on his cheek and tells him: "I'm so sorry for your loss."

She's genuine, her eyes reflect true sorrow, for him, for Lori, for Judith and Carl.

"Thank you," he replies voice unsteady. She removes her hand, holds it to her chest and nods, like she understands, just how much that wound is hurting him, and how much he appreciates her gratitude by the fact he replied to her.

"This is Judith," Rick says and Carl comes forward with his little sister.

"Oh," says Carol, as she takes her from the boy. "Oh, she's gorgeous." She holds Judith in her arms and falls in love right before their eyes. Rick eyes Shane who is standing somewhere off to the side and he grudgingly gives a nod.

When he turns his attention back to Carol, her little girl has crept up next to her and ins watching the baby with wide eyes.

"Oh, forgive me," says Carol, "This is Sophia."

"It's nice to meet you Sophia," says Rick carefully, "This is my son Carl. Carl, do you think you could show Sophia the house?"

"Sure," Carl nods, and then gestures awkwardly with a hand to tell Sophia to follow him. Sophia watches her mother who nods reassuringly and then she follows Carl to the house.

Daryl comes forward then and Rick feels his shoulder blades tingle, an acknowledgement of the weight that is always there. They clasp hands in greeting and Daryl says: "She give you all any trouble?"

"Screamed the house down last night," Shane speaks up for the first time.

"I think she missed you," Carol says as Judith begins to fuss in her arms when she hears Daryl's voice.

Daryl looks like he's never had a baby miss him before and probably never had but after a moment he squares his shoulders and gestures for Carol to hand him Judith.

Once she's in his arms, she stops her squirming and settles into a contented doze. Carol gives a little huff of laughter and Daryl looks both pleased and awed. Rick joins in Carols quiet huff of laughter and Shane shakes his head in disbelief.

"Do you know how long we took to get her to shut up?" he asks.

* * *

While Rick and Shane show Carol around the house and explains top her job description, (and gently interrogates her about Ed) Carl and Sophia join him in the living room. Carl comes over slowly and says a quiet hey to him.

"Hey," Daryl says back. He holds out a hand and after a moment Carl grips it and then releases his hand quickly.

Daryl thinks that his presence must have been good for Carl, strange enough that he isn't pulled into his grief, trusted enough, that Carl can relax about him. It keeps the boy from slipping further into his mind when it's not occupied with Judith. He's something to be curious about, an odd friend and ally for dealing with Judith, and not so well known as Shane and therefore not so likely to tell Rick any secrets Car imparts. He hasn't imparted any yet but Daryl thinks it might only be a matter time. He's secretly terrified but figures that he'll deal with that when it comes up.

Daryl hears the sound of Rick's shoes on the floor and tilts his head. Rick's tracks are a little steadier now but still too loud. He emerges with Carol and Shane into the living room and Daryl asks, "Is everything okay?"

Rick looks at Carol, eyebrows up and after a moment she turns to Daryl and smiles, "Yes, everything's okay."

"Good," he nods and dumps Judith in her arms, "I want a beer."

"I'm with that," mutters Shane so Daryl hands him one from the fridge. Shane disappears back into the living room and Rick leans up against the island. Daryl waves his beer in question but Rick shakes his head. Daryl shrugs, pulls from the bottle and then leans up at the end of the island and waits for Rick to speak.

"Thank you," he says, at last.

Daryl gives a little nod and Rick's eyes light up a little before dimming back to their grief state. He looks like he wants to say more but can't quite articulate it.

Daryl says it for him. "Told you we'd figure it out."

Rick smiles. It's weary but genuine. "Yeah, yeah you did." His tracks fall on more solid ground now, he's choosing his path with better care and that means he's healing. Slowly, but it's happening. Daryl read's Rick's tracks, like he always will.

* * *

 _ **Review please guys!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.**

* * *

Daryl circles back to Rick's house three months after Carol is installed there. He comes in to find Carol sitting in the living room, holding Judith and cooing to her. She jumps when he enters and he regrets not knocking first because she looks so scared for a moment.

When she sees it's him she smiles, gets up and goes over to him. Tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek which he takes with awkward grace and hands Judith over to him. He takes the baby, protesting from being removed from her comfortable perch, and holds her close, marveling at how much she's grown over the months.

"Hey, Lil' Asskicker," he greats her and she instantly stops her fussing and grins at him, wide and delighted.

"Daryl," chides Carol playfully at the name. "Look at that smile!" she says laughing, "Somebody missed Uncle Daryl."

Daryl gives her a horrified look at that, that sends her off into even more laughter. Luckily he is saved by the appearance of the school bus. Carl and Sophia hop out and Carol goes to meet them at the door. She hugs Sophia and drops a kiss on her head and clasps Carl's hand in a gesture that he obviously taught her.

The boy is still unnaturally quiet though but he appears to be getting along fine with Sophia. Sophia comes into the house, spies him and gives him a delighted laugh. She drops her bag in the hallway and runs over to him and grabs him about the waist.

"Daryl! What are you doing here?"

"Came to visit," he says, "careful," he adds when her hanging onto him causes him to teeter on his feet for a moment. As he is still holding Judith this is definitely a cause for concern.

"Daryl?" says another voice. Carl has come in and is approaching him more slowly.

"Hey Carl. How you're doing?"

"Just came back from school. When did you get here?"

"'Bout five minutes before you did," said Daryl.

"Oh," says Carl. "Dad's not going to be here for awhile," he said.

"Figured," says Daryl, "Wanna hold her?"

"Later," says Carl with a smile, "You haven't held her in a while."

Carol grins at him over Carl's head and Daryl manages to say thanks with a straight face.

Carl picks up Sophia's bag from the floor and the two of them run upstairs to drop off their things.

"Everything okay?" he asks Carol.

She smiles at him almost as breath takingly as Sophia had earlier. "Everything's wonderful," she says with sincerity and Daryl gives a little half smile, pleased that everything worked out well.

Judith begins to kick and fuss and Carol heads over to the kitchen. "You haven't forgotten how to feed her have you?" she calls over her shoulder. And Daryl huffs at her and then sways to stop Judith from going into a full out crying session.

* * *

When Ricks walks into his house it's to find Daryl sitting in the armchair with a sleeping Judith on his shoulder. He blinks in surprise and then smiles.

"Daryl," he says warmly crossing the room.

"Grimes," Daryl drawls. He shifts Judith to hold out one hand to Rick. Ricks claps it and holds on tightly for a second. Daryl Dixons's fingers are around his heart in a way his hand can never hold onto Rick's arm. The fingers around his heart squeeze warmly. And his eyes catch and hold Rick's and they are always too intense and yet never too much to bear.

Rick feels like a weight had lifted of his shoulders. No, that's wrong, it's only that Daryl is here, bearing that weight with him.

"Dixon," he teases lightly and Daryl huffs with laughter and drops his hand.

"When did you come in?" Rick asks him.

"This evening," he says. "What have you been feeding her? She's heavy."

"According to Carol," Rick says, "She's healthy." Daryl snorts.

"How's things," he asks more seriously, peering through his hair.

Rick collapses in the sofa next to him. "They're there," he says after awhile. It's hard, moving on without Lori. He keeps getting hooked up by the little things. He'll see pancakes on table and think for a moment that she made them. He'll see his white shirt in the line and remember that she'd hated to wash it because it would invariably pick up a colour it shouldn't. He'll turn to tell her something but she wouldn't be there. He'd wonder if to call her and ask if he should buy milk.

He swallows. "It's not easy," he says. "I miss her," he says.

Daryl doesn't say anything but Rick feels his hand on his heart, feel his fingers tighten like bars in a fence to protect him, feels the ghost of his hand on his shoulder, the heat of his back against his. Rick knows he doesn't have to say anything more. Daryl Dixon knows his heart better than Rick does sometimes, feels everything he does. It should be frightening, to be so stripped bare, exposed. Rick's never felt more at home.

"We'll get there," Daryl says at last. Rick gives him a shattered, grief filled smile.

"Yeah," he says.

He hears footsteps on the stairs and then Carl and Sophia comes into the room. Rick gets up and hugs Carl, pulls Sophia against him when he releases the boy.

"Hey you two," he says, "How was your day?"

"We had a pop quiz," Sophia informed him. "It was awful."

Rick laughs a little. "For you too Carl?"

"Nah," says Carl. "It wasn't so bad."

"I don't like science," Sophia informs him. Three months out from under her father's thumb and Sophia is already becoming more assertive. She has blossomed from the shy, scared child, afraid to ask for honey in the morning to put on her waffles, to the girl that would steal the rest of Rick's pancakes if he happened to not pay attention.

Daryl, Rick had managed to coax out of her, was part of the reason that she had been able to convert so quickly. The gruff sounding man had always been kind to her, took time to teach her things and had never scolded her beyond what was required and had never made her afraid of him. He laid the groundwork for what a male figure of authority should be, so Sophia didn't have to take too long to realize that she could trust Rick. The rest of it was that Sophia for all that she appeared to be quiet had a spine of steel and could and would do whatever necessary to defend herself.

"Well," says Rick, "I don't like science too much myself. It's why I became a cop instead of a doctor." He hears a choking sound of laughter behind him and knows Daryl is in stitches behind him at the thought of Dr. Grimes.

"What about you Mr. Dixon?" he adds, "Science any favorite of yours?"

"Yeah," says Daryl, "Biology. Dissection."

"That isn't all biology is about," Sophia corrects him but Carl smiles like he's caught on to the joke.

"Hey you're the one who failed the pop quiz, should you be telling me what biology is about?" Daryl needles Sophia gently.

"I didn't fail," said Sophia indignantly, "I just said it was awful!"

Carl and Rick share a smile and sneak out the room leaving Daryl and Sophia arguing hotly behind them.

"Better day?" Rick asks Carl when they're safely in the kitchen.

"Little bit," Carl says. He never likes to discuss his feelings but has agreed to this little compromise. "Can I make a sandwich?"

"Carol made chili," said Rick.

"But I don't like chili," said Carl. "It's too spicy." He wrinkles his nose for effect.

"Alright, alright," said Rick, "But you help clear the table and wash up tonight if you're not going to eat Carol's hard work."

Carl grimaces and nods. "Okay." He locates the bread and Rick hands him the cheese and bologna.

They're still making the sandwich when Sophia comes in holding Judith very carefully in her small arms. Daryl is right behind her, spotting her as she walks. Rick smiles at the picture they make and goes over to them.

Sophia gently relinquishes the bundle of baby to him and although she squirms a little Judith never wakes. Daryl spies the sandwich but Rick says pre-emptively:

"There's chili."

Daryl scowls at him and so reluctantly gives up the idea of a bologna sandwich, Rick is hard pressed not to laugh. But he goes for a bowl and scoops out the chili, and stands next to Rick while he eats and the two of them watch Carl eat and respond to Sophia who is rearranging the dinosaur magnets on the fridge to tell a truly gruesome story.

Forty-five minutes, half a pot of chili, three bologna sandwiches and 4 dead brachiosaurs later, Carol comes in to tell Rick the laundry is about done drying and tugs Judith out of his arms. Rick reluctantly lets her go.

"Packing clothes is my chore," he tells Daryl who nods in understanding and goes to wash up his bowl.

* * *

Carl sneakily drops his plate on the sink while Daryl is washing his bowl and then scampers out of the kitchen. Daryl glares at the plate but washes it anyway and gives Carol the evil eye when he hears her snickering behind him.

She looks good, he notes. The tension that had always been present in her frame is gone and she has laughed and smiled more readily than he'd ever known her to do. The months away from Ed has done her well. She is thoroughly enchanted with Judith and taking care of her has also apparently given her back some life.

"They don't work you hard do they?" he asks her.

"Oh no," she says. "Rick and I spit up the chores and the kids do some of it of course. Shane helps whenever he's over. Sophia makes him," she adds with a smile and Daryl can't help but smile slightly.

In the next moment, Sophia is calling him from the next room. "Go on," says Carol, "I'm going to put Judith in her crib."

Daryl nods and heads over to the living room.

"Will you teach me some more?" is the first thing that comes out of her mouth when Daryl walks in.

Daryl hesitates but then nods. "But if Rick says to stop, we have to stop," he informs her. She nods solemnly if a little bit disappointed and Daryl extracts the knife from the waistband of his pants and hands it to her.

Carl gasps a little at the sight of the knife so Daryl turns to him and says firmly, "Don't play with knives. If you want I can show you how to hold one. I've already taught Sophia which's why she gets to hold it but don't you play with knives at all unless someone's supervising you."

Carl nods still looking a bit shocked but he takes a great interest in watching as Daryl teaches Sophia how to defend herself against someone lunging against her.

Of course, he never expected her to ever use what he taught her but he knew that just knowing helped Sophia to feel safe. She was quick learner too and had a whole lot of guts. Maybe he should ask Rick if he would mind enrolling her in a self-defense class.

"Can you teach me too?" Carl asked, his voice breaking through Daryl's thoughts.

"You sure?" Daryl asks him and the boy nods seriously. "Alright," he said, "come over here." Half an hour Daryl is regretting his offer; not because Carl is bad at it but because he's good and he doesn't want to stop. Daryl thinks that probably owes Rick an apology sometime in the future.

Rick's tracks line the ground next to him, steady and relaxed, amused even. Daryl decides not to get too worried.

* * *

Rick doesn't mean to walk in on Daryl, he'd just forgotten that with Carol in the house, Daryl would have used the little cot in the laundry room downstairs. He'd gone upstairs to drop of Carl's set of clothes, neatly folded and/or ironed and had returned to do his set.

He hadn't expected to find Daryl there, apparently changing his t-shirt. And he certainly hadn't expected to see the long scars down his back.

Daryl turned, startled when Rick walked in and froze and that was all Rick needed to read the story of the scars. His jaw tightened and his face turned mulish, but his eyes were pleading and the fingers around Rick's heart trembled, like they didn't want to let go but didn't want to be felt either, didn't want to be exposed.

Rick walks in further and Daryl stiffens but Rick looks him straight in the eyes and lets him see him. Let's him know that it doesn't change anything between them, that he doesn't think his less, that he doesn't pity him but he does wish it had never happened because Daryl is his friend, his brother, and he loves him dearly.

Rick doesn't think Daryl would have been able to bear it if Rick hadn't been so exposed himself, if his heart didn't tell Daryl everything he was feeling. But it does, it does and Rick doesn't care.

* * *

It's the first time that anyone isn't Merle, has seen the scars on Daryl's back and he's terrified because he doesn't want their pity, doesn't want them to think differently of him, doesn't want them to ask questions, to always have it coloring every interaction he ever has with them.

But Rick doesn't hesitate. His tracks are sure and firm and there's nothing in them that says he's lost any respect for Daryl. He opens up himself and let's Daryl peruse at his leisure everything he's thinking and feeling and Daryl finds no pity there, nothing that says he will ever treat him differently.

Instead there's gentle understanding and a soft, humorous warmth. Rick knows him, he may not know everything that's ever happened to him but Rick knows him, has always known him and this, this changes nothing because he already knows all there is to know.

* * *

Daryl reads him like an open book and then after a long moment, steps back, looks away and reaches for a clean t-shirt.

Rick, steps around him, drops on the cot and begins to fold his clothes. Daryl finishes shrugging into his t-shirt and then sits on the other end of the bed, back to the wall. He pulls out his pack of cigarettes but Rick tells him,

"If you smoke in here, the sprinklers will go off."

Daryl gives him a dirty look but Rick offers instead, "There's ice-cream in the freezer."

Daryl pauses while he contemplates and then decides his might as well. When he come back, he hands Rick a bowl of vanilla. Rick cheerfully abandons the pile of clothes and the two of them spend the next hour chatting about baseball like two teenagers in their first year of college until Carol finds them and scolds Rick for abandoning his chores.

Daryl's laughter is heartwarming to hear.

* * *

The next few days settle into a sort of rhythm for them all. It's a little strange for Daryl to be living in a house with so much people, but he quickly gets used to it because it's Rick's house and it's Carol.

He spends his days helping with the chores, taking care of Judith, teaching the kids to fight and hunting in the woods nearby. He tries not to think about what Merle would say if he ever saw him, because it would spoil things and Daryl is sorta, kinda enjoying himself. He can't do this for the rest of his life but it's nice in little doses.

It's nearly a week since Daryl arrived back when he hears a familiar voice, shouting from the front yard. It's evening and Rick and Shane are both home, the latter balancing Judith on his lap. The kids are watching SpongeBob while Carol was out in front taking care of the flowers.

"Get of me!" Carol says a moment later and Daryl is already half-way to the front door because the first voice is Ed's.

There is a splash, some cursing and then Daryl is through the door in time to catch Carol as she comes charging up the porch. Ed is coming behind her, sputtering from where she had apparently sprayed him with the hose.

He skids to a stop when he sees Daryl and sneers at him. It's at this point that Rick and Shane appears behind him.

* * *

 _ **Review please!**_

 _ **And have a great day!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Hope you all enjoy this one! Trigger warnings for conversation referring to an abusive relationship and degrading language used.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead!**

* * *

Daryl pushes Carol behind him and Rick and Shane sild her behind them as well.

"Get back here Carol!" Ed roars.

"Stay away from her!" Daryl growls.

"Stay out of this!" Ed hisses. "This is none of your business. That's my wife!"

"And she don't want to talk to you!" Daryl growled.

"Alright," says Ricks cool voice before Ed can reply. "Why doesn't everyone calm down and we get things sorted out here?"

"There isn't anything that needs sorting out! I want my wife and my daughter back!"

"Carol has a right to leave if she wishes," Shane interjects.

"She has no right to take my daughter!"

"Then we'll let the courts decide!" Rick interjects simply.

Daryl can feel him hovering right at his back. His cool temper is the only thing that's keeping Daryl from discouraging Ed from existing, with his fists.

"The hell we will!" spat Ed. He charges up the stairs and Daryl feels Rick move away from him to give him space to swing. He blocks Ed's first punch and then snaps a punch of his own. He hears Carol cry out behind him even as Ed is tossed a few steps back. Daryl takes advantage of his unbalanced state and gets in two more, sending Ed tumbling down the steps, before Rick's hand is gripping the back of his t-shirt. He doesn't pull him to a stop, the gesture alone is a request and Daryl grudgingly gives in because this is Rick's house.

Ed comes back to his feet and pulls out a gun from the waist band of his pants. Before he can shoot though, Shane's gun has already materialized in his hand. Daryl stands in front of Rick, Shane of the side of them as they hold the stalemate.

"I am a deputy Sheriff," said Shane, "And I'm ordering you to put the gun down. You are drawing on an officer of the law. Don't make this any worse than it has to go," says Shane, gentle but firm.

While Ed is focused on Shane, Rick has removed his own gun and points it at Ed from behind Daryl. Daryl supposes that he should be afraid. If Rick slips up even a little, he'll take Daryl's head off instead of Ed's.

Ed refocus on them when Rick's movement draws his attention.

"You!" he snarls pointing the gun at Daryl. "I knew it. I knew she had another man out there! This is the best you could come up with bitch!" He shouts at Carol.

Daryl starts to move before Ed's gun stops him in his tracks.

"Leave him alone Ed!" Carol shouts back.

"So that's why you left! Running off to be with your new man? Or are you sleeping with all three of them? You're a slut! I knew you were! That's why I kept you like that! Could never trust you woman!

"Daryl is a friend!" Carol snaps, "They all are! I don't need somebody else to be a reason to leave! You're reason enough! Just leave us alone! I'm no slut, you just couldn't bear the idea that you didn't have control over me!"

"Why you bitch!" snaps Ed. "I'm going to teach you a lesson!" He goes as if he can charge up the stairs but Rick and Shane both remind him of their guns.

"back away and leave my property right now!" says Rick, "I'm not going to ask again."

"I'm not leaving without my wife and child!" Ed spits.

"Leaves us alone!" a childish voice pierces through the air.

Daryl head twists to see Sophia scampering past Carol. She has one of the kitchen knives in her hand. She stops next to Shane and points the knife at her father.

"I don't want to go back with you! Mommy doesn't want to go with you! You made her cry! You made me cry! I don't want to see you ever again! And if you try to take us I'll wait until you sleep!" She waves the knife threateningly, even as tears run down her cheeks.

"Sophia!" Daryl's voice doesn't book any argument. He moves towards her and takes the knife. She doesn't resist, clinging to him instead.

"Don't let him take us Daryl!" she sobs into his chest when he picks her up. "Please don't!"

"He won't," Daryl says gruffly. He goes to release her to Carol but Carol walks past him, eyes filled with tears but also flames.

Carol stands next to Rick, chin up, shoulders back and says slowly and clearly, "Ed, if you come within 500 feet of me or Sophia again, I will kill you." She doesn't shout, she doesn't even try to sound menacing. Still the words send shivers down Daryl's spine because she means it. Everyone on the porch knows that she means it.

* * *

Rick keeps his eyes on Ed. He's worried. He doesn't want Ed to trip here. Gunshots could go into the house. The house where the Carl and Judith are. Worse, Sophia is out on the porch with them.

But he can't move. Carol is right here and she's making her stand. He can't send her back to the house. She may the only person who could get him to go. Conversely, she may send him over the edge. It's a tightrope and the atmosphere is so charged with tension that Rick fears to interfere.

Daryl's fingers are clamped over his heart with anger. He wants to hurt Ed for everything he's ever done to Carol and Sophia but he too doesn't like the situation. There is hesitation but Rick Can feel Daryl relax of a brief second, deciding to leave it to Carol.

Ed stares at Carol like he's never seen her before. "If you're going to shoot me," Carol continues, "Shoot me. I am never going back with you. You will never have control of me ever again. We're done. You can expect the divorce papers and a restraining order. If I ever see you again, you will regret it. I don't belong to you. Sophia doesn't belong to you. This is the last conversation we will ever have. Leave, now. And don't think for second that won't be able to shoot you, because I can."

Ed scoff at her last words but Carol has moved suddenly and she is in front of Ed, head almost pressed to the barrel of his gun.

"I want to shoot you," she said, "with a desire you can't possibly imagine." Her voice is a whisper, low and husky, and in another situation, it might have been sexy. Rick has never been so terrified of someone before. Neither has Ed Apparently. The gun in his hand wavers and Carol stares at him with all that black hatred in her heart for the man who had driven her into the dirt and then she nods smugly, turns her back to him and walks back up the porch. She brushes past Rick, and stops to retrieve Sophia from Daryl.

The gun in Ed's hand lowers and for a moment Rick thinks that it might all be over. Then Ed's face contorts and he gives a wordless yell, raising his gun and pulling the trigger.

Rick is moving diving, to cover Carol and Sophia. He hears Shane's gun going off and then pain hits him in the side.

"Rick!" It's Daryl's voice. "Rick!" Rough hands are fumbling over his side and then even more pain blossoms as Daryl presses down on the gunshot wound.

"Stay with me man!" Rick blinks blearily, pain shooting through him.

"Carl?!" he manages.

"Dad!" Carl's voice is hovering over him now. In another second Rick sees his face, eyes filled with tears.

"Take care of Judith," Rick tells him.

"Dad no!" says Carl.

"'Till I get back," Rick assures him. "I'm not leaving."

"Dad!" Carl is sobbing.

Rick locks eyes with Daryl, whose trembling fingers on his heart, give away his panic.

'Take care of them,' Rick asks with his eyes.

'Always,' Daryl responds in the same way and then the world fades away into black.

* * *

 _ **Review please!**_

 _ **Have a nice day/night!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.**

* * *

Five hours after Rick has been shot is when Daryl and Shane finally get into it. The other deputy has never understood Rick's and Daryl's friendship and Daryl knows, without him saying a word, that he resents it deeply. He doesn't trust Daryl, probably never will, but for Rick's sake he didn't say anything. But now that Rick's out of commission, hurt and unconscious and Shane's worried out of his mind about his best friend, he lashes out at Daryl.

"This is your fault!" Shane hisses at him in the parking lot when they go 'round for the car to pick up Carl and the girls.

"How the hell is this my fault!?" Daryl snaps back. Because Rick is lying unconscious in the hospital, in bad shape and his fingernails are still stained with Rick's blood and Rick's tracks are faint and weak and he's in a frightening sort of limbo that has Daryl scared that he'll slip away.

"You brought her here!" Shane says, pointing at his chest. "If you didn't bring her here he wouldn't be lying there in the hospital!"

"So, what? I'm supposed to have left here there for Ed to shoot them too? To shoot Sophia? To shoot Carol?"

"He wouldn't have shot them!" Shane snarls.

"No, he'd just beat them to a pulp one day!" Daryl snarls back. "You think Rick would have wanted that for both of them?"

"You don't know what the hell Rick wants!" Shane yells at him. "You just walked out of nowhere, suddenly claiming to be his friend. And just so happens when he's the most vulnerable! You think he should trust you? You may look like a rough redneck with not enough brains for planning a long con but could be all a front couldn't it?"

"The hell!" Daryl snarls and pushes Shane. "You accuse me of being a criminal one more time Walsh and Rick ain't gonna be the only one in that hospital!"

"That's right!" Shane says. "Hit me! Assault an officer of the law."

Daryl's fist clenches but he doesn't do anything. "I don't care what you think of me," he says lowly, "But I am Rick's friend and I am sticking around so get used to it. Now get the damn car. The others are waiting."

Then he stalks back to the hospital to find Carol, Carl, Sophia and Judith.

* * *

Things don't actually improve when they get home. It's better with the others as a buffer and Shane softens when Carl is there but the tension between them both is thick and choking.

They all shower when they get home, scrubbing off the blood they all seem to have gotten smeared with and Carol puts Judith back to sleep after feeding her.

Daryl walks into the kitchen after his bath only to find Carl throwing up in the bin. The boy's hair is damp from the shower and he'd probably come downstairs because he hadn't wanted to stay alone in his room and the shock had finally worn off.

Daryl kneels next to him on the floor and wraps an arm around his chest to brace him as he throws up convulsively. His free hand he uses to rub soothing circle on the child's back. Carl is pale and shaking and when his stomach finally stops trying to throw up things that aren't there he slumps back into Daryl's chest and cries helplessly.

Daryl pats him awkwardly and murmurs soothing things to him even if he has no idea what it is he's actually saying. Carl isn't listening to the words anyway, responding more to his tone of voice.

"I can't lose him!" he finally cries out. "I can't. I can't! I lost mom and..and… I can't lose him too! What do I do Daryl! I can't! I can't! I can't! He's my dad! He's my dad! He's my dad and I can't…! I can't! I can't! I can't!" He dissolves into helpless tears again.

"You're not going to!" Daryl tells him firmly. "You dad's not going to leave you. Didn't he tell you that? He won't do that to you and Judith alright. He loves the two of you too much."

"But the doctors..!"

"You dad's a strong guy alright?" Daryl says. "He's the strongest guy I know. Don't you be giving up on him alright?"

Carl hics and sniffs but nods. "Yeah. Yeah. You're right. He wouldn't leave us."

"No, he won't."

Carl wipes his face and sniffs some more. He takes a deep, steadying breath and finally realizes he's practically in Daryl's lap and scrambles off shyly. Good thing too because Daryl isn't any more comfortable than he is.

"Thanks," he says awkwardly and dashes off to the living room.

* * *

Daryl takes a moment to settle himself and then levers himself off the floor. There's more than one child in this house and no matter how much she had been frightened of him Sophia had still loved her father. He knew he still cared for his, deep inside, no matter how much he wanted to reach inside him and rip those feelings out. His old man didn't deserve them.

He makes his way to Sophia and Carol's room and as soon as he enters, Sophia launches herself at him. She hugs him around the waist like a lifeline and sobs helplessly. Unlike Carl she doesn't talk, just cries and cries until she falls asleep.

Carol sits and watches them and when he settles Sophia in the bed, he walks over to where he's sitting in the chair and waits. After a moment, she reached out and took his hand, squeezing tightly.

Tears leak out of her eyes as she cries in perfect silence.

Finally, she sniffs and wipes he eyes.

"I'm sorry he's dead," she says, voice unsteady, "Because I still loved him, somehow. But I am so relieved that he is dead because it's a shadow I don't have to worry about anymore." She looks up at him. "Is that bad?"

"No," he tells her honestly. "It's human and last I checked, that's what you were. He was a shit piece of human being and if he didn't try to do what he did, he wouldn't be dead. He shot at the both of you. His own kid. Being relieved that he's dead doesn't make you bad. 'Way I see it, it makes you smart."

She sniffs some more and nods. "Thank you."

"Yeah," he says, "Lots of people saying that these days."

She gives a small laugh.

"Gonna head back to the hospital now," he tells her. "Can you handle the kids?"

She nods. "Shane will stay here I think."

Daryl thought about it and then realized that it was probably true. He left then, getting his bike and making his way back to the hospital. He hoped dearly that what he said to Carl would prove true. He couldn't lose Rick either.

* * *

It's been two weeks since Rick has been shot and he still hasn't awoken from the coma.

Their life has settled into something of a routine now, of home, school, work, baby, hospital. The kids visit Rick every day after school. Daryl and Carol switch out days between taking care of Judith and staying with Rick. Shane comes in between shifts and on his lunch breaks.

Half of the sheriff office comes to see Rick and Lori's mother shows up to see him too. She is worried about Rick and especially about what's going to happen to her grandchildren if he doesn't make it.

She's reassured by Carol's presence and visibly disturbed by Daryl's. Shane brings relief and she spends most of her time talking to him and to the doctors.

* * *

It's been three weeks since Rick got shot and he's slid out of that frightening limbo state into something much steadier. Daryl feels like he's finally able to breathe properly since that day on the porch.

* * *

It's been three weeks since Rick got shot and Merle calls Daryl to check up on him. Daryl doesn't tell him where he is when he asks. He manages to misdirect and hopes like hell his brother doesn't ever figure out that he did.

* * *

It's been four weeks since Rick got shot and the tension between him and Walsh is worse than ever but Carl is finally looking like he doesn't have to will his dad back from the dead during all his waking hours. He stops having nightmares too.

Rick's tracks are stronger and steadier and the heavy weight of is wounds is slowly growing lighter. Daryl still spends as much time as he can with Rick; as if his very presence can coax him to keep breathing, to keep healing. He isn't actually any better than Carl this way, just better at hiding it. Still, Rick has always been aware of Daryl on the same level that Daryl is always aware of Rick and he hopes that it helps somehow.

* * *

It's five weeks since Rick has been shot and he still hasn't woken.

* * *

 _ **Tell me what you think!**_

 _ **Have a nice day/night!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Hope you all enjoy even though this chapter is a little out of the blue.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.**

* * *

Andrea is standing next to Amy's bed gripping her gauzed elbow and keeping her sister's spirits up as she lies in a gurney and waits for an x-ray.

"Did you go see him?" Amy asks her.

"The old man?" asked Andrea, "No. I haven't found where he is yet." She rubs her hand over her forehead forgetting about her cut and winces. "I felt so bad crashing into this person's trailer and then I felt even worse when it turned out to be an old man. Oh I'm despicable." She moans.

Amy laughs. "Hey at least he wasn't hurt bad."

"Yeah but his trailer," said Andrea. "I hope he has insurance."

Amy is about to reply when Andrea is almost run over by a tiny girl holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand.

"Whoa!" says Andrea, holding onto the child as she struggles to keep them both on their feet. She manages not to crash to the ground and the small girl reels back and begins yammering apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Shane says I shouldn't run in the halls but I really want to go see Rick and Carl too but I knocked into you. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did I hurt you?!"

"Whoa!" says Andrea again, "Hold up there. I'm fine. You didn't hurt me. Are you with here with someone?"

"Um, yeah, Shane," says the girl.

"Where is this Shane?" asks Andrea, wondering who will let a young child wander a hospital by themselves.

"I left him behind," said the girl looking sheepish. "He should be here soon."

"Alright. Well, why don't you stay here until Shane catches up with you okay?"

"Okay," says the girl.

"I'm Andrea and this is my sister Amy. What's your name?"

"Sophia," says the girl.

"Who are you here to visit Sophia?" asks Amy.

"Rick," says Sophia.

"Is Rick your dad?" asked Andrea.

Sophia shakes her head. "No. We live by him. My mom works there."

"Oh," said Amy. "Is Shane your dad?"

"No, he's Rick's friend. My dad is dead. Shane, um, Shane killed him."

Andrea and Amy stare at the girl in blank surprise that grows into horror. Before they could speak though the girl continues.

"My dad shot Rick, you see," she said. She sniffs a little and takes a moment to compose herself. "So now Rick is in the hospital."

"Are, are you alright?" asks Andrea.

Sophia nods. "Yeah. My dad wasn't very nice. He'd come to try and take me and mom away again. But Rick and Daryl and Shane wouldn't let him and mommy wouldn't go with him. So he got mad and pulled a gun. Rick says violence should always be a last resort and left to the police."

"I see," said Andrea, even though she really didn't.

"Is Rick going to be okay?" asks Amy.

"They don't know. They say he's in a coma. Carl is worried."

"And who is Carl?" asked Amy. Andrea thinks they really shouldn't' be prying into people's business but really she's curious.

"Rick's son," said Sophia, "His mommy died not too long ago. That's why my mom and I are there. To help take care of his little sister. She's just a baby. But now my dad shot Rick and he isn't waking up and Carl is afraid he'll die too."

"Sophia!" a voice calls and Andrea looks to see a man striding down the hallway, crew cut hair, angled jaw and to her relief, dressed in a deputy's uniform. She and Amy share a look of relief.

"Shane!" says Sophia.

"What did I tell you about running!" he said. "Don't do that again. I lost you. You almost gave me a heart attack, young lady."

"Sorry," said Sophia, not sounding very repentant. "I waited for you with Andrea and Amy."

"Hi," says Andrea, "We um, bumped into each other and I told her she should probably wait for you."

"Thank you," says Shane with a wide, open smile. "You have no idea how fast these kids move sometimes."

"Oh, I know," says Andrea. "I'm just glad she wasn't here alone."

"Me too. Thank you again ma'am." He tips his hat at her and she blushes a little.

"Shane let's go!" said Sophia tugging on his hand.

"Yeah, okay. We're going, we're going," he says to her. And with a wave the two are moving down the corridor.

"Well," says Amy, "At least he's not a secret murderer." Andrea bursts out laughing.

"Yeah for a moment there I thought that kid had just sold out this guy's dark secret and I was gonna have to turn him in or something. That'd be awkward."

"Less awkward than hitting an old man's trailer though!" Amy teases.

* * *

After Amy is settled into a ward and goes to sleep, Andrea goes in search of Dale, the old man whose trailer she had rammed into when she lost control of her car. She finds him tucked into a bed fast asleep so she wanders back out the ward and stops in front of a vending machine when her stomach suddenly rumbles.

She is fighting to get the machine to release her pack of chips when Sophia says, "You have to hit it from the side."

She jumps and turns to see the child staring at her, eating a pack of chips herself.

"Thanks," says Andrea and thumps the machine on the side. The machine spits the chips out and Andrea retrieves it.

"Are you all alone again?" she asks.

"Uh-uh," says Sophia shaking her head. "Daryl's there." She motions with her head to where a man in a dark leather jacket is leaned up against the wall on the far end of the corridor, keeping watch over the girl. He has longish hair, a sort of scruffy look about him, but the way he is propped up tells her there is a lot of muscle in him. He looks like he's taking in every bit of the surroundings even though his body language says 'lazy'.

Andrea has seen men like him before. They're a bit like military but there's something wilder there, a sort of natural aggression that's all the more frightening when it's oh so carefully controlled, the way it is in this man. Frankly, Andrea doesn't think she would ever let any child of hers go out under his supervision. Still, don't judge a book by its cover, right?

"Ahh," says Andrea.

"Are you going to be here long?" Sophia asks, crunching on her chips.

"A few days," says Andrea. "They want to keep my sister for observation."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah," assures Andrea. "The doctors just want to make sure you know?"

"Yeah," says Sophia. She crams a handful of chips into her mouth again.

"Sophia!" a new voice echoes down the hall, husky but surpassingly light.

Andrea looks up to see the man, Daryl, she reminds herself, looking at Sophia with his head cocked expectantly.

"I have to go," Sophia mumbles through her full mouth.

"Okay. See ya kid," Andrea says. She gives a little wave to man who jerks his head in acknowledgement and then walks off with the girl.

"Today is certainly interesting," Andrea says under her breath.

* * *

She meets Daryl for real when she is helping Dale walk down the hall form his bed. The old man isn't injured too badly, just bruised really and Andrea secretly thinks he's stronger than both her and Amy combined. He took her apology with good grace, telling her that she needn't worry, just buy him a beer and they'd be square. She had laughingly agreed but still visited him when she wasn't by her sister's side.

She is called out by Sophia who happily skips up to her and hugs her like she's known her all her life. Andrea lets out a startled laugh and gives her a little hug, feeling awkward because nurturing really isn't in her make-up.

Sophia demands an introduction from Dale and while they are talking to each other, Andrea looks around to see if once again Shane has been left behind. Instead it's Daryl walking up the corridor with another child, Carl, if she has to guess. The boy has dark bags under his eyes and looks weary. He also holds himself in a sort of unnatural stiffness and is very quiet. He hovers close to Daryl without being too obvious about it.

Daryl himself doesn't look much different from when she first saw him that night. In daylight, he looks slightly scruffier but no less dangerous. He stops next to her and gives a little jerk of the head in greeting.

Andrea decides to be polite and says, "Hi, I'm Andrea." She sticks out her hand and Daryl shakes it once, firmly.

"Daryl," he says.

"This is the Andrea I was telling you about!" Sophia chirps at Daryl and Carl. Andrea this is Carl!"

The boy just nods at her and she says hi, feeling awkward. "I hope your dad gets better soon," she tells him.

He nods jerkily. Daryl makes a slight gesture, not actually touching him, that's somehow gently coaxing and the boy pries open his mouth to say, "Thanks."

Andrea smiles and nods.

"How is Amy?" Sophia asks.

"She's fine. Just a little swelling around her arm and she still has a bit of concussion. They want to keep her for one more day of observation."

"I'm glad she's feeling better!"

"I'll tell her so," Andrea smiles.

"We should go," Daryl says to the kids. Sophia nods and hugs Andrea goodbye and then takes Daryl's hand and half-skips, half-pulls him down the hall. "Hope your sister is okay," he tosses over his shoulder, surprising her.

Andrea watches the very dangerous man herd two children down the hall and it suddenly strikes her that neither child is afraid of him in the slightest. The child who has just gone through some traumatizing times in his life hovers next to him as if he is a large, gruff teddy-bear and the girl who apparently grew up with an abusive father is comfortable pulling him along the hall. She remembers the dark lines under his eyes and the weary tension in his body. He was worried about his friend. He was here, taking care of his friend's son. And suddenly he isn't so scary after all.

"Some books have more obscure covers than others," Dale tells her. She blinks at him and then smiles.

"That's true," she acknowledged. "Now you have to walk a little bit more again."

"What I need," Dale argues, "is rest!" but his eyes are twinkling and Andrea laughs and hooks her arm through his and tugs him along gently.

"You'll get it," she says cheerfully, "But not just yet!"

Dale harrumphs but laughs a moment later, holding on to her arm as she helps him down the corridor.

* * *

 _ **Reviews make me happy!**_

 _ **Have a nice day/night!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.**

* * *

Rick hovers on the edge of consciousness. He is not quite asleep but he isn't quite awake yet either. Voices echo from a long distance away and though he tries, he can't seem to make out who they are. There's a pain that radiates from his side. It's the only grounding thing he knows at the moment.

Sometimes he wonders if he should just let go but there's something stopping him. Something he can't remember but knows is important.

He hovers in this weird restful-restless state, hearing voices, sometimes begging and pleading softly, sometimes a soft baby coo, that brings a warmth to his heart, sometimes a voice that feels so familiar, as if he's been hearing it for all of his life, the cadence of it frighteningly predictable, and then there is another voice, rarely heard, almost always bland and a little aloof, but there's a weight to this voice, and every time it sounds, it wraps around him and drags him towards the voices like an anchor dropping to the ocean bed.

There's something that grips his heart and doesn't let it go. It takes a few days but soon it is more grounding than even the pain. Another day and Rick forgets about the pain. He starts hearing the voices better. The pleading voice is a young boy. The boys voice causes Rick's heart to clench painfully. It also simultaneously makes his heart swell with love. Rick wants to get out of this floaty place, wants to wrap the boy in his arms and assure him that everything will be okay, that he's here and that Rick loves him with all his heart.

There's another child's voice too. A girl this time and though she chatters all the time, cheerful and loud, Rick can sense the distress in her voice, as if she thinks that if she talks loud enough and long enough he will wake up and respond. He wants to get up, smooth back her hair, tell her that it'll be alright, that she can stop talking now, rest her young voice before it gives out, that he's going to be fine, going to be okay.

A warm hand brushes his brow, a soothing, low voice, brushes back his hair. The cadences are warm and measured, very calming. He gets the idea that the person is updating him about the day, reassuring him that everything is okay. But there's a hint of soft amusement too, a 'it would be better if you were here.' Rick wants to smile at this voice. Thank her for what she's saying, tell her he'd like to come home too. He misses it.

The baby's coo, when it is there, is almost always when the woman is there. Rick wants to press his nose against the soft curls and breathe in that clean baby scent, that makes him think of home and love and hope.

The overly familiar voice fluctuates between being frantic and a sort of lazy calm. It often overlaps with the voices of the children but sometimes it doesn't. The voice is worried too. He can tell that the person is a friend, a brother really, the familiarity is achingly strong and filled with the strength of shared memories. The heartache in the voice is clearly recognizable and Rick wants to open his eyes and make a joke so that the man will laugh and tease him, will smile for real. He hates hearing the stress in the voice, will do almost anything to take it away.

The voice that he hears the least, is also familiar but in an entirely different way. It isn't like the other, built out of long years spent together, but there rests with it, a certainty that Rick feels all the way down to his bones. He hadn't needed years to know this voice, to become familiar with it. He had only needed a moment to know that voice completely, to be able to recognize it anywhere, to know the person who it belonged to, better than he knew himself. This voice belonged to someone Rick knew would have his back no matter what, that Rick could trust without reservation, for the entirety of his life. This voice was someone he would never have to fear. This too was a brother, born out of the simple fact that they could not be who they were and not be brothers. Rick knew about families by choice but this, this was something that he didn't have a choice about, not unless he stripped himself of everything that was Rick Grimes. Rick found that he was pretty comfortable with not having that choice. It didn't matter, he'd chose that voice anyway. All he wants to do for this voice, is open his eyes. He knows that, that will be enough.

* * *

Andrea is reading a terribly written erotica novel to Amy, purposefully exaggerating all the awful parts and leaving them both in stitches when Sophia bounces up to Amy's bed. Andrea snaps her mouth shut midsentence and hopes the child hadn't heard the rest of it.

"Hey Andrea! Hey Amy!"

"Hey Sophia!" says Amy grinning at her. "How are you? How did you find me?"

"I asked the nurses," said Sophia. She grabs and chair and kneels on it. "How are you?"

"I'm good," says Amy smiling. "My arm still hurts but a lot less."

"Are you on your own again?" asks Andrea.

Sophia shook her head. "Carl and Daryl are coming. They are just walking slowly."

Andrea has to laugh. "Does everyone walk too slowly for you?"

"No," the little girl replies, though she has the grace to blush.

Before Andrea can tease her some more, Carl comes through the door with Daryl following him. In his arms, Carl is cradling a very cute baby.

Amy lets out an involuntary squeal at the sight of the baby and Andrea almost does the same. Carl grins at Amy and says:

"This is Judith."

"Oh, I can't hold her," says Amy remorsefully.

"Well I can," says Andrea, "May I?"

Carl nods and Andrea makes her way over to the boy and carefully takes the little girl into her arms.

"Oh she's so cute!" she says. "Hello!" The baby gurgles and smiles at her. Andrea smiles back at her automatically.

"How's the arm?" Daryl asks Amy.

"It hurts," says Amy, "But the painkillers are good."

"Heh. One thing the hospital does tight," Daryl says. Andrea looks up at him and finally notices that he has a baby bag hanging from one shoulder. It's hysterically adorable.

"I know, right?" Amy replies, laughing. "Ooh bring her over!" she says to her sister.

Andrea brings the cooing child closer so that Amy can see her. The four of them basically spend the next half an hour playing with the overly cute child and Andrea has to admit that spending time with the kids was a lot more fun than she could have ever imagined. Maybe she should rethink her choice about not having kids.

Daryl doesn't interact much but when Judith finally starts to cry, he whips out a bottle, takes Judith from her and settles into a chair to feed her.

Andrea and Amy share and amused look.

"How's your dad?" Andrea asks Carl.

"The doctors say he's doing better," Carl says. "They think he might wake up soon."

"That's great!" says Andrea, "I'm happy to hear that."

"Do you want to visit him?" asks Sophia.

"Um," says Andrea, not sure how to let the girl down gently, "I really don't know him. It'd be a little weird, don't you think?"

"No," says Sophia, blinking at her.

Andrea looks to Daryl for help. To her surprise the edge of his mouth is twitching but he says diplomatically, "She has to keep her sister company."

"Oh, I don't mind," says Amy and Andrea shoots her a look. She turns back to look at Daryl whose mouth is no longer twitching but his eyes are suspiciously bright with laughter. He holds Judith up to his shoulder and begins patting her on the back.

"Well if you change your mind he's in room 450," Sophia says.

They stay a little longer before they leave waving goodbye. As soon as they leave Andrea rounds on Amy.

"What?" says her sister. "It's a little rude don't you think, that they came to visit me and we don't go to see the person they're here for?"

Andrea pauses. "I don't think it works like that."

"Just go for five minutes," says Amy.

"You're killing me here," says Andrea.

"Go," says Amy, "Be polite." Andrea rolls her eyes and trudges off.

"You owe me!" she yells over her shoulder.

* * *

Daryl is sitting in a chair outside Ricks room, rocking Judith back to sleep when the woman that Sophia had apparently became friends with, appears. She stops by him and gives him a smile and says:

"Hey." She sounds as awkward as she looks.

Daryl grunts at her and then says, "Sophia's inside."

"Um. Yeah. Thanks," she pauses. "I'm really sorry. If you don't want me to go in…"

Daryl shrugs because he doesn't think she's a threat. "I don't mind. Rick won't either."

"Are you sure? Cause I could leave…"

"I'm sure," says Daryl, "Sophia will be glad to see you."

"I have no idea why she's taken a liking to me," Andrea confesses to him. Daryl shrugs because honestly half the things kids do doesn't actually make sense. He's seen Carl and Sophia build an entire zoo out of all the fruits in the house, except the strawberries, which were left out for no discernable reason. (The other half of that story, consisting of a butter villain with his cheese sidekick, had been pretty entertaining but no one had to know that he, Carol and Shane had sat down and listened to this for an entire two hours.)

"Go in if you want," he tells her, "Don't, if you don't want to."

She hesitates and then sighs and says under her breath, "Amy will kill me." Then she squares her shoulders and walks through the door. Inside, Daryl hears Sophia's excited laugh and then the door swings close, muffling the sound of their voices.

He has just finished rocking Judith back to sleep when he catches sight of Carol, Shane and Carl making their way back to the room. Carl is on Shane's back, laughing as Carol tries to snatch at him and Shane attempts to stop her by employing evasive maneuvers.

The boy is actually laughing out loud and Daryl feels something in his heart lighten. It's been a damn long time since he's heard him laugh. That shouldn't be the case for any kid.

"Left!" he calls out and Shane darts left to avoid Carol. It's too late though. Carol grabs a handful of Carl's shirt and pulls them to a stop and then begins to tickle him.

"No!" Shane gives out a properly dramatic death cry even as Carl is squealing with laughter. Carol finally lets up and the three of then trot back down the hall still breathless.

Then twin screams come from Rick's room. There is a moment of frozen horror, then Daryl has thrust Judith into Carol's arms and he and Shane are flying through the door together.

* * *

The last thing Andrea expects to happen when she was visiting the guy in a coma, is for the guy in a coma to wake up. She and Sophia are laughing over funny memes on her phone when, they both happen to look at Rick at the same time. To their shock his eyes are open and he's staring at them, blinking slowly. It is in fact, so surprising, they both scream at the top of their lungs.

It was not, and never will be, Andrea's finest moment. The guy frowns at them and opens his mouth to say something but what it was, she will never know because at that moment, Daryl and Shane barreled through the door and she was practically knocked aside.

* * *

Rick is hovering on the edge of consciousness but this time he feels like he can actually pull himself over that edge. He struggles, fighting to reach out and grip the edge and just, just drag himself over.

He feels that grip over his heart, and a child's voice, laughter in it, and his heart clenches with the desire to find her and see her smile.

Further away, there is the boy's laughter, free and sweet and Rick wants to sigh in relief, wants to wrap the boy in his arms and just hold on, wants to cup his face in his hands and see happiness in those young eyes.

Forcing himself into wakefulness is like pulling himself up over the jagged edge of a cliff. The effort makes his whole body feel weak, his arms tremble and his brain feels like it's scraped raw. But there are his kids out there, his family, his friends, all the people he loves and who love him in return and Rick's had enough of this coma shit.

Piece by piece he drags himself up from the well of unconsciousness and finally peels his eyes open. The light is bright and blinding but Rick has never been so happy to see anything in his life. When he can finally focus it's to see Sophia and another woman whom he doesn't recognize, focused on a phone and laughing. Then they both glance at him, freeze and then scream.

Well, Rick thought, blinking dazedly, he's certainly not going back to sleep after that.

In another second Daryl and Shane both manage to come through the doorway together, which rather impresses Rick because the doorway really isn't wide enough for both of them. The blonde woman is pushed aside and she slips out the door as fast as she can. Rick only catches a glimpse of her though. His vision is filled with Shane and Daryl hovering over him.

Shane turns to holler for a nurse and Rick locks eyes with Daryl.

'We're going to be okay' Daryl's eyes say and then he's moving out of the way for Carl.

"Dad!" croaks out Carl, griping the edge of the bed. He looks like he's about to laugh and cry at the same time.

"Carl!" Rick breathes. He lifts his hands shakily and frames the boy's face.

"Dad," Carl says again. "Hey."

"Hey," Rick says back and then pulls him down and kisses his forehead. Carl collapses on him like a puppet whose strings have been cut. He grips Rick's hospital gown and sobs helplessly. Rick cards his hand through his son's hair and murmurs, "It's okay," over and over again.

When he looks up from Carl, Shane has Judith in his arms and Sophia is buried his mother's arms, also weeping.

"Thank you, brother," he says to Shane.

"No problem man," Shane says, eyes bright with tears, "Never a problem."

"Hey," he says to Carol. She manages to shuffle both Sophia and herself closer and takes his outstretched hand.

"Hey," she says, "Welcome back to the land of the living." He huffs a laugh and tugs gently on Sophia's hair.

"Hey Sophia," he says. The little girl cries harder but then rips out from her mother's grip, runs around to the other side of the bed and throws her arms around his neck. Rick pats her head too and then searches for the other person in the room.

Daryl is standing further back from the others. Rick doesn't say anything, just locks his eyes onto his and let Daryl read him. Daryl gives him a jerky little nod and turns away to hide his tears.

Then the nurse comes in and the doctor and everyone has to back up. Suddenly there's a flurry of questions, tests and other medical stuff happening and Rick doesn't actually get to see anyone else until well over an hour later.

* * *

 _ **Have a nice day/night! And drop a review if you please!**_


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